‘Work on water leakage complaint should start in 24 hours’

Underscoring that 24 hours is the deadline to attend to complaints pertaining to water contamination or leakages, the civic body has warned of strict action against those failing to comply with the rule.

Underscoring that 24 hours is the deadline to attend to complaints pertaining to water contamination or leakages, the civic body has warned of strict action against those failing to comply with the rule.

Days after Hindustan Times reported on the water leakages in the city and the rise in water contamination cases in its July 27 and July 30 editions, corporators across party lines demanded action from the administration at the civic general body meeting on Monday.

A recent campaign by HT has also shown that less than half the potholes were not attended to within the stipulated period.

Stating that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is well equipped with CCTV cameras and labour to detect and repair leakages, additional municipal commissioner Rajiv Jalota said, “Work on any complaint pertaining to contamination and leakages should start within 24 hours. Failure to do so will invite action.”

The opposition, however, said that similar claims were made in the past, too.

“The officers will reach the spot within 24 hours, but there is no guarantee that the problem will be solved,” said Rais Sheikh, group leader, Samajwadi Party.

The civic body is also yet to implement the technology to detect underground pipeline leakages using helium gas that was tested on D and T wards four months ago.

“There are a number of factors which need to be looked into before we go ahead with the technology. For instance, there is no clarity on the cost of the system,” said a civic official from the hydraulic engineer’s department on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. Currently, ward-level officials use sound rods to determine underground leaks.

“These rods have proved to be ineffective as leaks send out a peculiar sound which cannot be heard mostly owing to the heavy traffic flow on the road,” said the official.